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Volume LXIII Number 10
Braun Returns to the Minneapolis Campus 5
Pipher Discusses American Culture Affecting Adolescents . 6
Committee Explores CSC's Use of Technology 8
THE ST. CATHERINE WHEEI
April 10, 1995
Stand Up! Speaker Tells of Catastrophe in El Salvador
photo by Nickie Vohl
SHANNON CLAYPOOL
News Editor
On March 29, a former Salva-doran
coffee plantation worker
spoke at CSC as part of Social
Justice Week, March 27-31.
Stand Up, CSC's social jus-tice
student organization, in-vited
Jorge Floras to speak
about his, and other peasants',
fight for human rights during
El Salvador's civil war. He
recalled his status as a refugee
in his own country, and later in
Mexico and the United States.
Flores recalled the civil war
Salvadoran soldiers waged on
their people. He told how he
escaped from one of the small-est,
yet most intensely popu-lated,
countries on the
continent.
Mary Ellen Halverson, a
CSC assistant Spanish profes-sor,
translated Flores' words
into English. "You could fit El
Salvador into Minnesota ten
times," he said, "but six million
people live there."
Now a U.S. citizen and Min-nesota
resident, Flores told stu-dents
how, from age nine, he
walked five miles each way to
night school. He had to farm
during the day so he and the
six other family members
could survive. "We needed
loans from the bank to culti-vate
more," Flores said. "After
the harvest, we had to sell [the
products] to repay the loan.
Only the leftovers were for the
family."
Flores said the poverty oc-curred
because "70 percent of
the best lands belonged to 14
families until the 1980s."
There were many people and
not enough land to produce for
them.
The 14 families controlled
rural and urban industries.
Peasants, who made up 60 per-cent
of the population, lived to
serve the rich. In the 1970s,
organizations formed to com-bat
this repression against the
masses. "Youth groups formed
with adults to protest military
tyranny," Flores said.
Flores called the 1970s a
time of going from "childhood
to youth. There was a sea of
discontent, but [peasant organi-zations]
were not afraid," he
said. "We felt strength in being
united."
Poverty drove Flores and his
family to work on a coffee plan-tation
(finca) under "subhuman
conditions." He told how adults
received $2 a day and drank
contaminated rain water.
Impure water caused malaria
in a number of finca workers
throughout the country. Medi-cal
clinics were not available
"There was a sea of
discontent, but [peas-ant
organizations]
were not afraid," he
said. "We felt strength
in being united."
for workers. "[Sick workers]
had to leave the plantation to go
to their family or friends/'
Flores recalled.
Because coffee was one of
the principal crops of El Salva-dor,
workers were paid slightly
more during the harvest time,
October to February. Flores
still called the situation "social
exploitation."
In the midst of the coffee
harvest of 1979, peasant orga-nizations
led a strike to warn
finca owners that the treat-ment
workers received was
"inhuman and no longer ac-cepted."
They stopped cutting
coffee and blockaded the plan-tation.
"The finca owner was ready
to negotiate and we were
hopeful," Flores said.
The next day, the national
army and police arrived with
weapons and surrounded the
finca with tanks. "We had
two hours to leave the planta-tion,"
Flores remembered, "or
we would be shot."
The workers still demanded
better working conditions.
Flores said that even amidst
the numerous and common
military coups of their coun-try,
"the people felt strong.
No one believed [the army]
would shoot."
Then the Salvadoran army c
opened fire. "It sounded like
a war," Flores said. "We were
instructed not to run, but
people panicked and there
were more shots."
Peasants who remained
were commanded to show
identification. "We were
criminals and terrorists if we
did not have identification in El
Salvador," Flores said. He told
how those without documenta-tion
were sent into a line and
"disappeared."
Flores described the situation
by saying the "catastrophe was
very big." Many peasants were
wounded and an estimated 150
died. Many more were miss-ing,
including Flores' uncle.
"My mother, father and older
brother were alive," Flores
said. "We found each other
and went to my aunt's house."
According to Flores, the
army had intentions to "not
only kill, but terrorize" the
peasants. He went on to ex-plain
that protesters against
finca owners were considered
communists and guerillas.
The news on the radio re-ported
the situation as civilians
caught between the army and
guerillas. "[The Salvadoran
news] reported that the army
saved the population," Flores
said. "They said the guerillas
fought with weapons like those
used by the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua and 25 guerillas
died."
El Salvador continued on p. 8
CSC Students Learn about Social Justice
photo by Loura Thomas
LAURA THOMAS
Contributing Writer
I was one of seven CSC stu-dents
who spent spring break
learning about and experienc-ing
social justice issues in Chi-cago,
111. The Apostolic
Outreach Trip was led by two
co-coordinators from campus
ministry, Dorothy Corrigan,
campus ministry director, and
Michelle Plombon, assistant
director.
We arrived at the Su Casa
Catholic Worker House in the
impoverished South Side of
Chicago on Sunday evening,
March 19, where we stayed for
the week. That evening, we
learned about the Catholic
Worker Movement started by
Dorothy Day, how Su Casa got
started and the benefits it pro-vides
to its guests.
Su Casa provides hospitality,
as well as ministry to Central
American refugees who are
survivors of torture. At Su
Casa, guests receive social ser-vices,
medical care, English
lessons and therapy from the
Marjorie Kovler Center for the
Treatment of Survivors of Tor-ture,
to help them in their tran-sition
to their new surroundings
and culture.
The worker house, started in
1990 by Brother Dennis
Murphy, is run by another
Christian Brother, two sisters
from the Religious Sisters of
Mercy and many volunteers.
. . .there were sounds
of laughter, voices of
mothers talking to
their children, children
laughing and sounds
of English and Span-ish.
. .
During our stay at Su Casa,
we became new members of
their family. Before dinner
everyone held hands, said a
prayer, gave thanks and sang a
song in Spanish.
For me, this helped to bring
my day to a close. It made me
feel like an important member
of a large family. I felt so
much positive energy in the
room.
While everyone was eating,
there were sounds of laughter,
voices of mothers talking to
their children, children laughing
and sounds of English and
Spanish conversations all going
on at the same time.
Our days were spent working
in the community. We spent
two days working at the Greater
Chicago Food Depository,
where we bagged over seven
thousand pounds of noodles
which will go to feed more than
3,000 families. We learned
facts about hunger and poverty
and learned that through our
work, we were directly putting
our energy into helping solve
the problem.
In order to learn about other
programs in the neighborhood,
we visited the Mary McDowell
Settlement House, which pro-vides
services for children,
mothers, fathers and families.
The people at the Settlement
House had positive outlooks for
the future of their neighborhood
and for the success of their pro-grams.
The Settlement House not
only provides services for
youth, but also for senior citi-zens.
Just down the block they
have a Senior Center which
provides recreational, as well as
health services, for the elderly
in the neighborhood. The
Trip participants with founders and leaders ofSu Casa Catholic
worker community.
hustle and bustle in their of-fice
showed me that their hard
work and determination is
helping to make the lives of
people in need a whole lot bet-ter.
We visited another worker
house in Chicago, St.
Catherine of Genoa Catholic
Worker. This house provides
a transition place for transient,
HIV-positive people wishing
to be free from drug use and
improve their futures as mem-bers
of the community. From
this experience, we all gained a
broader perspective on leader-ship
styles in worker houses.
Our work in the community
included helping to prepare and
serve a meal at the Chicago
Christian Industrial League,
which provides services such as
job training and social services
Social Justice continued on p. 6

St. Kate's Publications, St. Catherine University Archives and Special Collections. 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105. 651-690-6553; archives@stkate.edu; http://library.stkate.edu/archives

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Text

Volume LXIII Number 10
Braun Returns to the Minneapolis Campus 5
Pipher Discusses American Culture Affecting Adolescents . 6
Committee Explores CSC's Use of Technology 8
THE ST. CATHERINE WHEEI
April 10, 1995
Stand Up! Speaker Tells of Catastrophe in El Salvador
photo by Nickie Vohl
SHANNON CLAYPOOL
News Editor
On March 29, a former Salva-doran
coffee plantation worker
spoke at CSC as part of Social
Justice Week, March 27-31.
Stand Up, CSC's social jus-tice
student organization, in-vited
Jorge Floras to speak
about his, and other peasants',
fight for human rights during
El Salvador's civil war. He
recalled his status as a refugee
in his own country, and later in
Mexico and the United States.
Flores recalled the civil war
Salvadoran soldiers waged on
their people. He told how he
escaped from one of the small-est,
yet most intensely popu-lated,
countries on the
continent.
Mary Ellen Halverson, a
CSC assistant Spanish profes-sor,
translated Flores' words
into English. "You could fit El
Salvador into Minnesota ten
times," he said, "but six million
people live there."
Now a U.S. citizen and Min-nesota
resident, Flores told stu-dents
how, from age nine, he
walked five miles each way to
night school. He had to farm
during the day so he and the
six other family members
could survive. "We needed
loans from the bank to culti-vate
more," Flores said. "After
the harvest, we had to sell [the
products] to repay the loan.
Only the leftovers were for the
family."
Flores said the poverty oc-curred
because "70 percent of
the best lands belonged to 14
families until the 1980s."
There were many people and
not enough land to produce for
them.
The 14 families controlled
rural and urban industries.
Peasants, who made up 60 per-cent
of the population, lived to
serve the rich. In the 1970s,
organizations formed to com-bat
this repression against the
masses. "Youth groups formed
with adults to protest military
tyranny," Flores said.
Flores called the 1970s a
time of going from "childhood
to youth. There was a sea of
discontent, but [peasant organi-zations]
were not afraid," he
said. "We felt strength in being
united."
Poverty drove Flores and his
family to work on a coffee plan-tation
(finca) under "subhuman
conditions." He told how adults
received $2 a day and drank
contaminated rain water.
Impure water caused malaria
in a number of finca workers
throughout the country. Medi-cal
clinics were not available
"There was a sea of
discontent, but [peas-ant
organizations]
were not afraid," he
said. "We felt strength
in being united."
for workers. "[Sick workers]
had to leave the plantation to go
to their family or friends/'
Flores recalled.
Because coffee was one of
the principal crops of El Salva-dor,
workers were paid slightly
more during the harvest time,
October to February. Flores
still called the situation "social
exploitation."
In the midst of the coffee
harvest of 1979, peasant orga-nizations
led a strike to warn
finca owners that the treat-ment
workers received was
"inhuman and no longer ac-cepted."
They stopped cutting
coffee and blockaded the plan-tation.
"The finca owner was ready
to negotiate and we were
hopeful," Flores said.
The next day, the national
army and police arrived with
weapons and surrounded the
finca with tanks. "We had
two hours to leave the planta-tion,"
Flores remembered, "or
we would be shot."
The workers still demanded
better working conditions.
Flores said that even amidst
the numerous and common
military coups of their coun-try,
"the people felt strong.
No one believed [the army]
would shoot."
Then the Salvadoran army c
opened fire. "It sounded like
a war," Flores said. "We were
instructed not to run, but
people panicked and there
were more shots."
Peasants who remained
were commanded to show
identification. "We were
criminals and terrorists if we
did not have identification in El
Salvador," Flores said. He told
how those without documenta-tion
were sent into a line and
"disappeared."
Flores described the situation
by saying the "catastrophe was
very big." Many peasants were
wounded and an estimated 150
died. Many more were miss-ing,
including Flores' uncle.
"My mother, father and older
brother were alive," Flores
said. "We found each other
and went to my aunt's house."
According to Flores, the
army had intentions to "not
only kill, but terrorize" the
peasants. He went on to ex-plain
that protesters against
finca owners were considered
communists and guerillas.
The news on the radio re-ported
the situation as civilians
caught between the army and
guerillas. "[The Salvadoran
news] reported that the army
saved the population," Flores
said. "They said the guerillas
fought with weapons like those
used by the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua and 25 guerillas
died."
El Salvador continued on p. 8
CSC Students Learn about Social Justice
photo by Loura Thomas
LAURA THOMAS
Contributing Writer
I was one of seven CSC stu-dents
who spent spring break
learning about and experienc-ing
social justice issues in Chi-cago,
111. The Apostolic
Outreach Trip was led by two
co-coordinators from campus
ministry, Dorothy Corrigan,
campus ministry director, and
Michelle Plombon, assistant
director.
We arrived at the Su Casa
Catholic Worker House in the
impoverished South Side of
Chicago on Sunday evening,
March 19, where we stayed for
the week. That evening, we
learned about the Catholic
Worker Movement started by
Dorothy Day, how Su Casa got
started and the benefits it pro-vides
to its guests.
Su Casa provides hospitality,
as well as ministry to Central
American refugees who are
survivors of torture. At Su
Casa, guests receive social ser-vices,
medical care, English
lessons and therapy from the
Marjorie Kovler Center for the
Treatment of Survivors of Tor-ture,
to help them in their tran-sition
to their new surroundings
and culture.
The worker house, started in
1990 by Brother Dennis
Murphy, is run by another
Christian Brother, two sisters
from the Religious Sisters of
Mercy and many volunteers.
. . .there were sounds
of laughter, voices of
mothers talking to
their children, children
laughing and sounds
of English and Span-ish.
. .
During our stay at Su Casa,
we became new members of
their family. Before dinner
everyone held hands, said a
prayer, gave thanks and sang a
song in Spanish.
For me, this helped to bring
my day to a close. It made me
feel like an important member
of a large family. I felt so
much positive energy in the
room.
While everyone was eating,
there were sounds of laughter,
voices of mothers talking to
their children, children laughing
and sounds of English and
Spanish conversations all going
on at the same time.
Our days were spent working
in the community. We spent
two days working at the Greater
Chicago Food Depository,
where we bagged over seven
thousand pounds of noodles
which will go to feed more than
3,000 families. We learned
facts about hunger and poverty
and learned that through our
work, we were directly putting
our energy into helping solve
the problem.
In order to learn about other
programs in the neighborhood,
we visited the Mary McDowell
Settlement House, which pro-vides
services for children,
mothers, fathers and families.
The people at the Settlement
House had positive outlooks for
the future of their neighborhood
and for the success of their pro-grams.
The Settlement House not
only provides services for
youth, but also for senior citi-zens.
Just down the block they
have a Senior Center which
provides recreational, as well as
health services, for the elderly
in the neighborhood. The
Trip participants with founders and leaders ofSu Casa Catholic
worker community.
hustle and bustle in their of-fice
showed me that their hard
work and determination is
helping to make the lives of
people in need a whole lot bet-ter.
We visited another worker
house in Chicago, St.
Catherine of Genoa Catholic
Worker. This house provides
a transition place for transient,
HIV-positive people wishing
to be free from drug use and
improve their futures as mem-bers
of the community. From
this experience, we all gained a
broader perspective on leader-ship
styles in worker houses.
Our work in the community
included helping to prepare and
serve a meal at the Chicago
Christian Industrial League,
which provides services such as
job training and social services
Social Justice continued on p. 6